Calling all journalists

To me, there’s a story behind the story here: The Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons didn’t just change their policy and decide to force doctors’ hands at a whim. Recall the Canadian Medical Association Journal guest editorial of July 2006. It was co-written by Jocelyn Downie and Sanda Rodgers. Jocelyn Downie had been appointed to advise the interim board of the CMAJ–a lawyer, she was, not a doctor, and a lawyer who advocates for decriminalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia, alongside her pro-abortion views (death all round, but let me not digress). Questions: How did she get appointed to the CMAJ interim advisory board? Why was she allowed to guest write an editorial? What are these two doing today? Do they have influence over the Ontario College?

It’s likely the same people who voted against Bill C-484 at the CMA.

There are only limited numbers of radical pro-abortion types, but they have loud voices, and lots of power, as I learned sitting in the law faculty for the Morgentaler conference in January 2008. That’s not a conspiracy theory, or some mild assertion: When you are the dean of the faculty of the country’s preeminent law school, you have a little bit of influence. (Dean Moran welcomed all of us to the Morgentaler conference, lest you have any doubt as to where her conscience lies–and she’s still allowed to use it these days).

Bottom line: Who is responsible for this Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons draft policy? Who is guiding the CMA? Hey–a little bit of investigative journalism never hurt anyone.

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Interesting question, and you are surely on to something. In the short term though, it seems that the CPSO policy was inspired by the very similar British policy that was introduced in March 2008, called “Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice.” I just hope that unlike the Brits, we won’t go gently into that good night.